Wednesday, February 25, 2009

This is my second year doing the Border Creek StationMystery Quilt through the local quilt shop in my mom's little town. (Have I complained recently that we don't have a quilt shop in my little town? If not, please insert complaint/whine here. If so, please ignore). I didn't get a chance to go and pick my own fabrics so I just chose the 'brown' option that the shop was offering. It is Portobello Market by 3 Sisters for Moda. To be honest, I'm not feeling the fabric. It is beautiful fabric, don't get me wrong, but it just isn't me.

But I do LOVE the mystery quilt. I love getting instructions in the mail. I love not knowing what the quilt will look like. I love being challenged (these quilts are much more difficult than ones I would try on my own). And I love learning new techniques.

I just finished the x's and y's last night. There was a paper piecing option. I chose the traditional method. They aren't perfectly square. I think that no one will notice when they are sewn into the quilt.

But I'm still not feeling the fabric. Maybe it will grow on me??? This was supposed to be a lap quilt for the back of my couch. Or maybe it will be a gift...

Thursday, February 19, 2009

I am so happy that I was chosen (via that good old hat) to participate in Rachel'sBee Inspired Virtual Quilting Bee. Yay. I couldn't sleep last night I am so excited. Check out the flickr group to meet the other quilters and follow along. It is my first VQB but it seems very beginner friendly. Now I just have to start collecting fabric. I think I'm seeing red...

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

I made these for my Mom's Birthday using the tutorial from Crazy Mom Quilts. The fabric isn't really my style, but my Mom used it to hide her laundry sink and gave me the left-overs. So I think they will be perfect for her laundry room shelves.I used some old jeans for the inside.These were really fun, fast and easy to make so I will definitely make more. I think they will be perfect for kids craft supplies.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I had some leftover fabric strips from my Baby Strips Quilt (which, by the way, was sent last week to my new sweet little niece), so I decided to make them into a doll quilt for Cabby.

Cabby was my Cabbage Patch Doll when I was a kid, and now my daughter takes her everywhere. I guess this was my first "Improv" quilt as I just started sewing. And I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I used some barnyard animal fabric for the back (I've had the fabric forever and this seemed like the perfect use for it). Then I free-motion stipple quilted it - excellent practice for me.

I used the blanket stitch feature on my machine sew on the binding. Too easy!And now Cabby has her very own quilt!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

I am pretty much a blog/Internet lurker. I read lots of sites, but comment very rarely. Usually when there is a contest to be won. (I'm still waiting to win one!)

But today, I took the plunge and signed up to participate in Darci's Fat Quarter Swap. I am very excited. I can't wait to go shopping for some fun spring fabrics. And I'm even more excited to get my fat quarters in the mail.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Good news: I finally pulled out my Grandma's old serger (thank you Grandma, I love it!) and made myself some cloth baby wipes. I've been meaning to make them forever, (okay for the last 2 years), but I've never gotten around to it because I've had much more fun, much more glamorous things to sew. But now that I'm in serger only mode, I got them done.

I cut up some old flannel receiving blankets 8" square and some left-over micro fleece from my diapers and just serged them together. It was so much fun! I didn't even pin or worry about straight lines (they're for wiping baby poo after all) and it was so freeing and so fun.